Charles w



are to t niest? STATES PATENT Un tes,

(. llAltLEbf XV. llEEllllE '1', OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T!) Alilihllt'l KUEllNEpOF SAME PLACE.

HYQROI HERMAL MINENG PR OGESS- ,SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 497,513, dated May 16, 1893. Application filed March 11,1891. Serial No. 384,619. (No model.)

To rzZ-Z :oZwmit nut-y concern:

Be .it known that '1, CHARLES \V. BEEHLEi-i, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvemcntsin llydrotherrnal Mining Process and Apparatus;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventicn, such as will enable others skilled in the which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates more especially to the blasting or rending part of mining operathe novelty of the present method, as distinguished from the older blasting or rending operations, in which explosives were employed, consists in the application of the expansive force generated by heating a body of liquid in a confined state, so as to cause the same to expand; the intense thermal force generated by such expansive action of the liquid being applied within the drill-hole or bore to rend or separate the body of rock, &c., that is being acted upon.

To enable others skilled in the art to more fully Ll'lfllSt-fiiltl and carry out my present invention, 1 will now proceed to describe the same more in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which 1 illustrate various forms of apparatus, by which my improved process hydro-thermal blasting can be ofcote-i.

Figu l and 53 are longitudinal sections of hydro hcrnial cartridges, illustrating the simpler types of apparatus for carrying out my present invention; and l lg. 3. a similarview of an apparatus more especia =y adapted for continuous operation.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, l represents the casing of the hydro-thermal cartridge, which may be of any usual form that will adapt .tselt to the iisuz mining drill hole or bore, ind admit of be ng iamprd urpuckcd in place 11 the usual manner.

ln carrying out my present hydro-thermal ilasting process, the whole operation may be :nrricd outwithin the cartridge casing, or )artly within the r c, and partly within a ieparate chamber or :cncrntor arranged outside of the drill hole or bore, that is suitably connected to the cartridge casing by tubula connections, flexible or otherwise.

The first mentioned method can be very cifectively carried out by the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the cartridge 13 shown as of a hollow closed form, tilled with water or other suitable liquid, and having a plug 2, closing an orifice in one end of the casing as shown, to form a seal that will require some force to rupture.

Athcrmal or resistance coil 3, of German silver, platinum, or other suitable metal, is arranged within the cartridge, and affords the means of communicating a sudden and high tcmperatureto the confined liquid, by the passage of a suitable current of electricity through the coil in the usual well-known manner;tho terminals of suchcoil being properly insulated where they pass out through the wall of the cartridge casing, as clearly illustrated in the drawings.

In'order to avoid a disruption of the coil by the rapid discharge of the cartridge, I propose to inclose it within a suitable interior casing 4, filled with a body or mass 5, of any suitable material that possesses the dual propertics of a conductor of heat and a non-com ductor of electricity.

The second, or continuous method, above referred to, is best citected by an apparatus,

substantially of the construction illustrated in Fig. In this, the thermal or resistance coil, 8, is arranged within an auxiliary chamber, or generator 6, of the required size'and strength, and which, in. the present construction, is adapted to contain the water or other liquid used, and has suitable pipe flexible or otherwise, with the hydro-thermal cartridge, which in thisspecial form of the apparatus is in the form of an an open-ended shell 8, the sides ornot, as desired.

9, is a valve in the connecting pipe 7, for controlling communication between the auxiliary chamber, or generator 6, and the hydrothermal cartridge.

10. is a superimposed tank, connected to the generator 6, and provided with valves 11 and 12, by the manipulation of which a supply of the water,orother of which may be perforated auxiliary feeding connections 7,

I, can be introduced into the inte- E: genemter n the following manner:

, a'uxilia-l'y chamber can be filled by 1 chimes new, and desire to se 1. 'lile' herein described improvement in 'zfini'eg a, iiquidl body within a closed casi rung the filled easing Within she (will r gale, and heating the confined liquid that its expansive force will be exert D ng the valve 12, and opening the valve i e bias-ling or rending, the same consisting;

ed Within the Grill bore 01' Iml SubSTmitially as set forth.

2. The herein described improvement in mine blasting 01 lending, the same consisting in confining a liquia body Within closed (ms-- ing, inserting the iilleal'casing within the drill bore or hole, aml heating, by means 0f an elec trlc'resistance coil, the confined liquid body so tllfit'llifi-X expansive force will be exert- .e' l within the drill bore 01: hole sues'zantlally get forth In iiesfiimony whereof Iafiix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES JV; BEEJILER.

"Witnesses:

TN. Swzw,

L. P. YOUNG. 

